Paul Hamilton

Paul Hamilton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UCLA. His research focuses on experimental atomic physics with applications to dark matter/dark energy detection and precision measurements. He leads the Hamilton Lab, which develops novel atom interferometry techniques and quantum sensors for fundamental physics.

Education: PhD in Physics from Yale University (2010), advised by David DeMille. His doctoral work pioneered sensitive searches for the electron electric dipole moment using PbO molecules.

Research Interests: Experimental investigations of beyond-Standard-Model physics using atom interferometry, trapped ions, and optical magnetometers. Current projects include:

• Bloch oscillation-based dark energy searches in optical lattices
• Single-atom gyroscopes for rotation sensing
• Global optical magnetometer network (GNOME) for dark matter detection

Key technical innovations: Microwave absorption methods for vapor cell control, ultracold ytterbium systems, and trapped ion rotation sensors.

Laboratory Team: Includes postdocs Rob Niederriter and Adam West, graduate students Chandler Schlupf, Sami Khamis, and Randy Putnam, along with undergraduate researchers.